Honestly, I have a hard time knowing whether Sen. Chuck Schumer [D-NY] is evil or just stupid. Thankfully the English language conveniently provides the word “and’ to assist in situations like this.

You see, the good Senator from New York isn’t happy with President Obama’s new, old, current, ever thus, plan to make the rich pay their fair share. Actually, that isn’t entirely true, Chuck isn’t happy with the President’s plan to make the rich in New York pay their fair share. He is completely comfortable with taxing the rich in Mississippi, even if they aren’t what most normal people would consider rich.

If you are wondering what I am talking about, wonder no more [via CBS New York, h/t The Transom]:

Schumer said the $250,000 limit is unacceptable since it will hit the metropolitan area disproportionately because of the high cost of living here.

“$250,000 makes you really rich in Mississippi but it doesn’t make you rich at all in New York and there ought to be some kind of scale based on the cost of living on how much you pay,” Schumer said.

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With news this past week of Solyndra’s bankruptcy, firing of 1,100 employees and federal agents now raiding the homes of the executives, I thought it would be instructive for all to go back to where this began. Two years ago on September 4th of 2009, Vice President Biden was live via satellite to praise a little known solar company that was going to help America and the Obama administration win the future.

Part of our plan — part of our plan is to make sure that as we create these jobs, we creat jobs of the future, like the ones you’re creating, jobs you can raise a family on, green jobs, jobs that will serve as a foundation for a stronger American economy, which is why it’s sp important we — we — we invest in Solyndra and invest in what Solyndra is doing, not just to get us through today, but to power our way to a much brighter tomorrow.

…

And I’m really happy, along with the secretary, to announce today that we’ve closed a $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra, more than a half a billion dollars. This is the first in what the secretary’s going to be announcing the Department of Energy will be making available for more than $30 billion in loan guarantees the recovery act is providing and will provide to American companies that are leading the way to a new clean energy future.

Back in the salad days of the Obama administration, when hobbits were still only fantasy and the Democrats controlled all the rings of powers, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act glided through Congress and was signed by a gleeful President. All were confident that they now had the power and the plan to turn the economy around and fix the environment in the process.

Green Jobs were here to stay. Our very salvation depended on it.

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As we all await President Obama’s new plan, which will be the same as the old plan, in tomorrow night’s speech to a joint session of Congress, it would behoove us to take a few minutes to watch the video below from the Cato Institute.

There are some truly stunning, and truly disgusting, figures presented in that short video. The one that disgust me the most is the fact that 14% of our nation’s GDP is spent on regulatory compliance. A burden that is put mostly on the backs of those who create the most jobs in America, namely small businesses.

Cato advises three measures to help correct this problem and get job creators once again creating jobs.

1. Cut Spending by 20%

2. No Further Tax Increases

3. Freeze All New Regulations [until they have gone through a full cost/benefit analysis.]

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Everything administered as remedy to the public complaint, if it did not produce, was at least followed by, an heightening of the distemper; until, by a variety of experiments, that important country has been brought into her present situation–a situation which I will not miscall, which I dare not name, which I scarcely know how to comprehend in the terms of any description.

In light of recent events and long standing policies, I could forgive someone for thinking the above comment came from the lips of some perspective 2012 Tea Party Candidate.  Of course this isn’t one of the many 2012 hopefuls, this is Sir Edmund Burke in his Speech on Conciliation with America.  This speech was given in 1775 in the House of Commons, prior to our Declaration of Independence.

Having witnessed the many changes in sentiment and conduct of Parliament, the ever changing ground put beneath America’s feet, and the continued failure to produce results, it is no wonder that Burke concluded that ‘under them the state of America has been kept in continual agitation.’

Although I don’t believe we are on the verge of a revolution, I do believe the agitation of our freedoms in commerce has grown to an unstable level, which is effecting our ability to be prosperous as a people and live within our means as a nation. The rise of the Tea Parties, the resurgence in conservative and libertarian material available online and in bookstores, this very blog; all of these are themselves evidence of this state of affairs.

The source of this agitation is found in the fundamental misunderstanding of where and how a nation achieves prosperity for its people and generates revenues for its government, as well as the effects government action has on these objects.

Freedom begets prosperity begets revenue.  Even though this is a simple concept,  it is nonetheless often difficult for the career politician, or Monarch, to grasp.

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This past weekend I had the pleasure of, once again, attending the RedState Gathering. I began my 90 mile drive to the nearest airport at 4 am Friday morning. Two flights later and I was in Charleston before lunch. I arrived at the hotel and checked in to my room before meeting up with Erick and Neil to go to Staples and Chick-Fil-A. This was a priority mission since Vermont oppresses me by not having any Chick-Fil-A restaurants at all, not just on Sundays as it is for free Americans. Also, we needed more badge holders and lanyards due to doubling our registrations in the last week leading up to the event.

Upon our return from eating God’s gift to fast food, Neil and I promptly started stuffing those lovely gift bags with various coveted items, like Sen. DeMint’s book; The Great American Awakening: Two Years that Changed America, Washington, and Me, in preparation for registration. Everyone was of high spirits even though there was much work to do.

Fortunately the conservatives who frequent RedState, and some friends who write at other sites, are always willing to pitch in any way they can. Whether is was Matt DeLuca stuffing bags, or Gavin DeFreese [aka RSBooBooKitty] and Alumni Contributor Brian Simpson manning the registration desk, you’d be hard pressed to find someone not willing to give of their time to provide a helping hand.

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Sen. Marco Rubio [R-FL] took to the Senate floor for a 15 minute speech on the Debt Ceiling debate. Around 7 mins in Sen. John Kerry [D-NVA] thought he would try and debate him. Hilarity ensued. [h/t to The Corner]

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Earlier today I received an email with the following video:

I like it, it is direct and it is true.  To borrow less, you have to spend less.

As has been noted by Erick multiple times the last few weeks, D.C. has a spending addiction.  So much so that even the cuts that they propose only cut the rate of spending rather than cutting what we are already spending.

Our “Dealers” have noticed that we are having a hard time paying for our addiction, already rating agencies in the U.S. and China have downgraded out credit.  The supply is going to run dry soon enough.

Meanwhile our government is left circling a room trying to explain the Keynesian logic of government spending, just like the coke addict below.

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As we slide ever closer to the edge of the fiscal abyss, it is important that we understand the priorities of the principles involved in the debt ceiling negotiations.

For Republicans the priorities have been clear for some time, cut the debt, cap the spending, and balance the budget.  For the Democrats they’ve really only shown one priority, increasing “revenue” aka tax increases, a priority which they couldn’t pass even when they controlled all of Congress and the White House.

The President has shown that he has a different priority.  He is going to continue to focus on what really matters…  his 2012 campaign.

Behold, via American Action Network’s facebook page:

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The other day Erick provided his thoughts on the severity of our current economic circumstances and the games that are being played by some of our representatives in congress. Erick essentially threw down the gauntlet and said ‘no more’, calling for conservatives in congress and activists throughout the nation to take the pledge below.

I pledge that if any Republican votes to increase the debt ceiling without first cutting, capping, and balancing using Lee-Cornyn-Hatch, I will work like hell to beat the hell out of him/her in a primary, even if their election is 2014 or 2016.

The importance of this trade-off for raising the debt ceiling is, in my view, the BBA that Sen. Lee brings to the table. Binding the hands of those who control the purse strings, by limiting spending to 18% of GDP, is a fundamental reform that must be achieved. We must replace anyone who will not stand strong on this. No free passes, no appeals, no redemption.

The only question is do we as activists really have the will to follow through, or are we really just mirror images of our effeminate opposition on the left… full of bluster online, but knowing in their heart who owns them and to who they’ll come home?

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As the aggression of the Monarchy grew, the future Founders of our blessed nation began to take steps to raise an army for defense.

“The New England delegations immediately tried to secure congressional support for armed opposition to Great Britain. They argued that New England was merely protecting itself from British aggression, and that in so doing it was acting to defend all the colonies. Their goal was the adoption by Congress of the troops at Boston, an action which would both remove the objection that the war was a regional issue and broaden the base of support for the military effort.

~snip~

Decisive action came on 14 June when Congress adopted “the American continental army” after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole. This procedure and the desire for secrecy account for the sparseness of the official journal entries for the day. The record indicates only that Congress undertook to raise ten companies of riflemen, approved an enlistment form for them, and appointed a committee (including Washington and Schuyler) to draft rules and regulations “for the government of the army.”

Two hundred and thirty six years later, our Army is second to none.

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